Erik Seidel Wins Me $100 - And He Also Won the NBC National Heads-Up Title

The 2011 NBC National Heads-Up Championship has now concluded and I figured I would take a few moments to comment on the weekend. First, I realize that I got my initial overall pick wrong. Ivey disappointed me with an early first round exit, but my back-up pick of Erik Seidel came through.

Speaking of Chris Moneymaker, where the hell did THAT come from. Yes, Moneymaker had a nice six figure score earlier in the year, but nobody gave him a chance here.

Did anyone think he deserved to be here? I didn't, but that doesn't matter now. His 2nd-place finish does a couple of things.

First, it brings him back for the next two years. Next, it puts Moneymaker back firmly on the poker map. With almost $500k in winnings so far this year, he is on pace to make more this year than 2004 through 2010 combined.

Vanessa Selbst seemed to be the only legit match for Seidel in this event. He faced Allen Cunningham, Jennifer Harman and Phil Gordon on the way to Selbst. Don't get me wrong, Harman and Cunningham are great players, but neither screams "great heads-up NL player."

In the end, a combination of Seidel running hotter than fire and a couple ill-timed bluffs by Moneymaker gave Seidel the title. If Ivey couldn't win, I wanted to see Erik win. He is one of the great guys in poker, and it was well deserved.

Granted, I think that Moneymaker winning this event would have been better for the game of poker.Â Â Chris has been needing to do something to put him back on the map.Â While I still think that his performance accomplished that, a win would have solidified that position.Â Either way, Moneymaker looks to be back, and that is a great thing for poker.

Finally,Â I would like to thank Erik for winning me $100 between @Kevmath's two bracket pools.Â I finished 7th and 2nd respectively.Â I guess that Seidel wasn't the only one #winning today.

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